By CADE KENNEDY, Sports Editor
The Northwestern football team lost against East Central 20-17 Sept. 25 at Ranger Field.
Despite the loss, there were several positives to take away from the game.
“I thought that we ran the ball well, and played well on defense,” said Matt Walter, the head coach of the Rangers. “I think that we found out some of the things that we are good at, and we made some great adjustments that we hadn’t made yet. It surprised me that the guys were able to handle the adjustments as well as they did.”
The Rangers were able to run the ball effectively, as they racked up 156 rushing yards against the Tigers for their best performance on the ground this year. Damon Williams led the rushing attack with 84 yards on 23 carries.
Williams fueled the Rangers late in the game, as he had five carries for 37 yards on a drive that ended in Tanner Clarkson throwing a 29-yard touchdown pass to Gavin Garner that tied the game at 14 with one minute left. This would be one of the biggest drives of the game, as the Rangers were able to bounce back after East Central scored a touchdown on the previous possession.
The late touchdown by Northwestern would send the game into overtime, but the Rangers were held to a field goal after gaining only one yard. The Tigers would respond on the first play of their drive with a 25-yard touchdown pass to win the game and silence the crowd at Ranger Field.
The defense showed signs of improvement, as the Rangers were able to force two interceptions during the game. The defense also recorded two sacks on the day, and was able to hold the Tigers to only 109 rushing yards.
The Rangers will play Saturday against the Ouachita Baptist University Tigers at noon in Arkadelphia, Arkansas.
The Rangers have maintained a 0-8 record against the Tigers since 2012, but three of the last four meetings between the two teams were one possession games.
Ouachita Baptist has a 3-1 record on the season, with wins over Oklahoma Baptist, Arkansas Tech and Southern Nazarene, and a 38-21 loss to Harding. The loss to Harding was Ouachita Baptist’s first conference loss since 2017.
